Starting in April, Aalst will be the first municipality in East Flanders to collaborate with "De Click". This is a system whereby you can use a free app on your phone to report that you have picked
up litter and dumped it in a bin. After a few times, you will also be rewarded. Aalst will need to sticker most of the city's and its surrounding areas' litter bins for this to work. The system will be introduced from April onwards and is part of a comprehensive, general approach to litter and illegal dumping in Aalst, Belgium.
"People are extremely annoyed by litter here in Aalst, but also in other cities and municipalities," says council member Katrien Beulens (N-VA). "We have already done a lot about it. With the project 'Caring Neighbourhood', for example, employees go around Aalst residential areas to pick up litter." However, this is not enough, which is why Aalst will soon propose a larger, more comprehensive approach. "We will focus on communication, prevention, and awareness-raising," Beulens continues. "But we also want to step up enforcement."
Scan, dispose, and reward
The city will collaborate with various partners for the new comprehensive approach, including Fost Plus, who created the "De Click" system. It is already running in Antwerp, Genk, and some coastal municipalities. Starting in April, it will be available in Aalst. "De Click" is a system that encourages people to pick up litter and illegal dumping and throw it in the bin. They will be rewarded, first with points, then with vouchers. According to Fost Plus, there is also a monitoring system in place.
Stickers with QR codes
The city of Aalst has approved the principle, but everything still needs to be worked out in detail. "We are still working on those vouchers, for example, which merchants we will partner with," explains Council Member Beulens. The litter bins will also need to be stickered.
"Every litter bin in the city and its surrounding areas will receive a sticker with a QR code. About ten bins will receive extra large stickers to make them stand out. Once everything is ready, people will be informed about the system." This will happen from April onwards, when Aalst will also announce the rest of its action plan. Photo by Spotter2, Wikimedia commons.